What is Twitch? How to Make Money with Twitch?

Do you love to play games and are looking for ways to earn money?

Did you know that you can earn money by sharing videos of the games you play on platforms like Twitch?

If you are curious about the ways to make money by playing games on Twitch, which has become one of the most popular social media platforms with 100 million views per month, this article is for you.

Let’s explain what platform Twitch is. A pretty niche and specific website is actually Twitch. You may not have heard of this site even though you have been playing crazy games on the computer, this is normal.

To put it briefly, Twitch is a medium where gamers broadcast their game videos and their own images in “video” format. A person entering the site sees the game you are playing and your reactions by watching these videos. In other words, we can say that it is an experience like sitting next to a person playing Counter Strike and watching the game.

Video game companies have their own Twitch channels. Here, they organize competitions, events related to games and broadcast live. In addition, Twitch has an international event called TwitchCon every year.

Let’s look at the publisher issue now.

As a video game player, you can open a channel for yourself on Twitch. Thus, you can broadcast live the game you played either on the computer or on the Playstation (Xbox). For this, you usually need to show the video recording of the game and your own face with the webcam. Also, people should hear your comments while playing. Using the lapel microphone improves the sound quality.

So the Twitch channel has three basic components: the game itself, your view and your comments. That means you need a computer (or game console), webcam or camera and microphone.

Twitch channels are active 24 hours a day. So you don’t have to play for 24 hours. You can also enlarge your channel by uploading previously recorded videos. But the general rationale at Twitch is to play video games live and people watch them live.

In this regard, Twitch can be a side job for you, an addition to your hobby e-Sports career or a full-time job.

Setting up a Twitch account only takes a few minutes. You can even become a member with your Facebook account. Whether you play on a computer or a Playstation will cause slight differences in the broadcast procedure, but you can access the necessary information on Twitch or Youtube for any subject you can think of.

After opening the Twithc channel, you are ready to broadcast. First of all, it is of great importance that you decide on your style.

 Are you going to wear a serious style?
 Want to create a humorous channel?
 Do you want to introduce a game to the audience or just play?
 What type of audience do you want to have?
 Will you play war games or football games?
 Is your main goal to be the funniest or best player?

You have to answer these kinds of questions. Streaming videos alone isn’t the only way to gain followers. With the chat feature on Twitch, you can chat with the people who watch your videos and let them know you better. Answering questions in a friendly and helpful manner will gain you a solid following.

Another important issue to be successful on Twitch is the games you will play. If you play games like Counter Strike, PES 2019, PUBG played by millions of people today, it will be difficult for you to stand out on Twitch. Because currently a world player is playing these games. However, if you play specific and niche games with fewer people, you are more likely to stand out.

How to Make Money with Twitch?

How do you think 1.7 million channel owners who broadcast on Twitch make money from this business?

Twitch basically gets money from gaming companies by advertising various games. A game company advertises its newly released game on Twitch and pays the site for it.

Players also give some of the money they earn from their own channels to Twitch. So there is a Twitch outage. You can also control how many ads you want to show for an hour of broadcast on the Twitch control panel. (An average of 3 ads for an hour is a common situation.)

So you divide the advertising revenue from the people who visit your channel and watch your videos with Twitch. The money you earn is also deposited in your Paypal account.

In addition, since Twitch is a website owned by Amazon, you can share an Amazon link to purchase the games you play on your channel, and you will receive a certain commission from this business when you buy the game through this link. This is called the Amazon affiliate program.

If people entering your channel are using ad blocking plugins such as Adblock, they are less likely to see the ads on your channel. This will greatly reduce your chances of making money.

In addition to advertising revenue, there are different ways to make money on Twitch. If you have a solid channel and follower base, various brands will want to sponsor you. So, for example, a brand that produces a gaming keyboard can pay $ 1000 per video for reaching you and using the keyboard of that brand in games. Similarly, a game company may pay you to play the game they developed. Such things are quite possible. It would also be a logical move not to tell your followers about such things directly.

In addition, when your audience increases, you can sell t-shirts, mice, headphones or anything else you can think of under your own brand. You can do this alone or through the Twitch Partnership Program.

Finally, there is one more method: Your followers can donate to you. In other words, a person who has a lot of fun watching your videos can send you 100 $ just because they come from within. If you activate the donation feature on Twitch and open a Paypal account, you can also receive donations from your followers.

Twitch Partner Program

We’ve touched on the basics of Twitch. Now let’s take a look at the Twitch Partner Program that you can apply after you have a serious audience.

This program allows people who watch your videos to subscribe to your channel and you earn money from this business. For this you need to share your earnings with Twitch. But as a result of this program, even if people who subscribe to your channel do not watch your videos that month, you still earn money. With this program, you can sell your own products more easily and increase your video quality.

People who subscribe to your channel by paying $ 5 per month can watch extra videos that can only be watched by paying people and chat with you privately. There are even special emojis that subscribers can use.

Twitch currently has 1.7 million video streamers and around 12,000 partners. So, being a partner is not as easy as you think, but Twitch explains in detail what you need to do to become a partner. In short, “chatting with the audience, creating a solid following, finding creative ways to stand out from the crowd” increases your chances of being a partner.

The basic prerequisites on the partnership application page are as follows:

 At least 500 people should watch a game played live.
 At least 3 broadcasts should be made at certain times of the week.
 Twitch's terms of service must be fully respected.

Switching from Youtube to Twitch

Sharing game videos and broadcasting live games started on Youtube. However, over time, many people switched from Youtube to Twitch.

If you already have a good following on Youtube, when you switch to Twitch, you don’t have to start from scratch. You can apply to the Twitch affiliate program even when you are active on YouTube and not knowing a single broadcast on Twitch.

For this on Youtube;

 An average of 15,000 people should watch your live game videos.
 You must have 100,000 subscribers.
 You must comply with the Twitch terms of service.

Result

If you enjoy playing video games, you can turn this hobby into an additional source of income. If you are lucky enough, determined and passionate enough, it is possible to make great fortunes from this business!

You don’t have to leave your full-time job to start streaming on Twitch. You can also gain a certain momentum over time by broadcasting for a few hours in the evening.